Sealed package and closure therefor



July 12, 1938. F R, pERKlNs l 123,546

SEALED. PACKAGE AND CLOSURE THEREFOR Filed July 1, 1937 Patented July 12, 1938 UNITED STATES sEALEDI PACKAGE AND CLosUItE THEREFOR Floyd R. Perkins, Chicago, Ill.

Application July 1', 1937, Serial No. 151,343

7 Claims.

This invention has to do with a sealed package for merchandise and the like, and relates more particularly to an improved package cover seal easily applied and removed.

'I'.he present day hermetically closed packages, which contain perishable goods such as coffee, fruits and sauces for household consumption, are customarily made of sheet metal or vitreous materials. Sheet metal containers are most commonly made air-tight by a line of solder holding the cover in place, while the same objective is usually accomplished in the case of vitreous containers by means of sealing wax in place of the solder, or, by the use of gasket clamped between the cover and the container proper. While these containers satisfactorily preserve their contents, they are costly and have the decided disadvantage of being diilicult to open. Various kinds of cap and cover opening tools have been devised with the view of alleviating the task of opening such packages, and in certain instances sheet metal containers have been provided with a specially constructed section adapted to be torn away by means of an accompanying tool.

The primary object of the present invention is the'provision of a new container sealing means which may be easily removed for permitting access to the container contents without the use of tools. Y l

More specically, the present invention contemplates in the hermetically seale'd package art the use of a permanently tacky sealing member for holding the package cover in place.

Other desirable objects of the present invention will become apparent upon reading the following description with reference to the accompanying single sheet of drawing hereby made a part of this specification, and wherein:

Fig. 1 is an end View of a container having a closure embodying the principles. of the present invention; v

'.'Figs 2 and 3 are fragmentary cross-sectional views taken, respectively, upon the lines 2-2 and 45 3-3 of Fig. l; and v Fig. 4 is a fragmentary cross-sectional view taken through the container shown in Fig. 1, substantially upon the line 2 2, and illustrating such container with its discharge spout in the opened position.

Similar parts where shown-and designated in several figures of the drawing and where referred to hereinafter will be indicated by the same reference character.

Attention is irst directed to Figs. 1 and 4 where there is shown a sheet metalrpackage or container having a cylindrical side Wall I il provided with a turned-over flange II about its upper edge. 4An end wall I2 has a peripheral iiange i3 extending axially of the container and joined to the flange lI by means of a line of solder indicated at I4. The connection between the end wall I2 and the side wall I i] is illustrative only. Any standard method of securing together the container walls may be employed. A discharge opening I5 is provided within the end wall I2. Such discharge opening I5 is closed by means of Aa spout closure member generally designated I6.

Upon opposite sides of the opening I5 there are strap-like saddlesIl which receive opposite end portions of apivot pin I8. One end of the spout it is curled at I9 about the mid-section of the pivot pin I8. An extended section 20 of the spout I6 is adapted to abut against an inwardly turned lip 2| disposed at one end of the opening I5. Said spout I6 has two similar and opposed side walls 22, each of which has an abutment lug 23 thereon. That portion constituting the bottom ofthe spout when the spout is opened for use as such has been designated 24, and forms the cover for the opening I5 when the spout is retracted into the container.v The pin I8 and the lip 2l are so disposed inwardly of the container that the spout wall 24when the spout is retracted, lies flush with the outer surface of the end wall I2. Said spout wall 24 may be referred to particularly as a shock-absorbing member.

Above the shock-absorbing member 24 is a patch 25 comprising a fabric piece 26 coated on Y its under' side with a layer 21 of a permanently tacky substance. Such tacky layer 2l eiects an adhesive connection between the fabric piece 26 and the shock-absorbing member 24, and, since the patch is of greater area than the discharge opening l5, the tacky layer thereof adhesively engages the end wall I2 at a section immediately about the opening. The patch 25 may be obtained by cutting a section of the desired size and shape from a larger piece of stock similar to that used for making masking tape or the like. .There is no intention to limit the invention to any particular type of adhesively coated fabric for use in a sealed device of the present kind. Adhesively coated fabrics of several manufacturers have been found to have the desired characteristics of resisting heat and moisture as make them well adaptable for use upon packages containing liquids, and packages which are sub- Cil jected to heat at the time they are lled or subsequently.

As an expedient to the preparation and lling of a package of the kind herein disclosed, the closure member I6 and the patch 25 may be applied while the opposite end of the package is open. The package may be lled through such opposite open end which will be permanently closed subsequently to that operation. This procedure of assembling and lling the package will insure the absence of spilled contents upon the exterior marginal edge of the opening I whereby such edge section will be clean at the time of applying the patch 25 and thus insure an effective adhesive connection thereto of the tacky material 2'I.

Experiments have shown that a seal of the kind here shown is effective for the preservation of subatmospheric pressure within the container and is further effective for retaining within the container liquid substances irrespective of the position of the container; that is, the container may be allowed to remain inverted with safety. The shock-absorbing member 24 receives the force which may be imparted by the container contents to the patch 25 because of the container being shaken or inverted. Such force is transmitted uniformly by the shock-absorbing member 24 to the patch 25. The shock-absorbing member 24 thus avoids the concentration of force upon any limited area of the adhesive connection between the patch and the container end wall I2, thereby preventing the breakage of the connection because of momentive force of the container contents in the event of such container being accidentally dropped or otherwise vigorously shaken. When the pressure within the package is lower than the ambient atmospheric pressure the latter pressure will augment the effect of the adhesive layer 2l to maintain the sealed joint between the closure member 24 and the container end Wall I2. Also the constant inward pressure of the atmosphere upon the closure member will counteract any force imparted to such member by the container contents. Any likelihood of loosening the patch or sealing member 25 by scuing against exterior objects may be diminished by recessing the end wall at the section containing the discharge opening I5, and by seating the vmember 25 in such recess.

Although the patch 25 avoids accidental displacement from the effect of force imparted thereto by the container contents, it is a relatively easy matter to remove such patch when desired. Removal of the patch may be accomplished by grasping an edge thereof between the thumb and forenger and by lifting such edge whereby to strip the member from the container. The removal force is thus concentrated, making it easy to successively lift adjacent sections of the adhesive layer from the container end wall. The container is shown in Fig. 4 With the sealing member 25 removed and with the spout I6 in its distended position determined by the lugs 23 as they strike the depressed section of the end wall.

While only a single structural embodiment has been shown in this specification, manifestly, the invention will extend to many other forms, and so it is intended the scope of this invention shall be in nowise limited excepting as defined in the appended claims.l

I claim:

1. In a hermetically sealed container enclosing a space of subatmospheric pressure, comprising a metal wall provided with an opening and subject to expansion and contraction with fluctuations in temperature, a shock-absorbing member removable in such opening, and a peelable sealing member having a permanently tacky adhesive surface extending beyond the limits of such opening, such surface being adhesively joined to said shock-absorbing member and to the section of said Wall circumscribing the wall opening.

2. In a hermetically sealed container comprising a metal Wall provided with a discharge opening and subject to expansion and contraction with uctuations in temperature, a stii shockabsorber member substantially congruent with the outline of such opening, and a exible peelable sealing member having a permanently tacky surface, said shock-absorbingv member being adhesively joined with a central portion of the tacky surface of said sealing member thereby leaving a marginal edge portion of such surface extending beyond said shock-absorbing member, and said sealing member being disposed with such marginal edge adhesively .engaged with said container Wall about the wall opening While oatingly retaining said shock-absorbing member within the wall opening.

3. A hermetically closed container comprising a metal wall having an opening and subject to expansion and contraction with fluctuations in temperature, a discharge spout retractable through such opening into said container, said spout having a portion disposed substantially Within the plane of said wall and providing a floating closure for the wall opening while the spout is retracted, and a sealing member having. a permanently tacky surface, said sealing member being of greater area than the container opening and beingdisposed over such opening for retaining said spout in itsl retracted position, and the tacky surface of said sealing member being adhesively joined with the closure portion of said spout and with the container wall immediately about such opening.

4. A hermetically closed container comprising a metal wall having a recess and an opening within the bottom of such recess, a shock-absorbing member disposed within such opening and substantially conforming thereto in shape, and a sealing member disposed Within said recess, said sealing memb'er having a permanently tacky surface adhesively engaged with the bottom of said recess and with said shock-absorbing member,

and said sealing member being of such thick- -ness as to be substantially flush with the surareas by a layer of permanently tacky adhesive to permit expansion and contraction of said Wall Without loosening said patch.

6. The combination of claim 5 in which the plate is hinged to said wall.

7. The combination of claim 5 in which the plate is the base portion of a spout which is hinged to said Wall.

` j FLOYD R. PERKINS. 

